There’s just under a fortnight to go until National Convenience Show returns to the NEC, Birmingham (24th – 26th April). Opening its doors as part of the UK Food & Drink Shows, the flagship event for the convenience-retailing sector provides a single platform for the whole market to come together and offers visitors an unrivalled opportunity to see the latest trends, products and challenges set to shape the sector in 2023 and beyond.
With the show fast approaching, we’ve rounded up our top 10 reasons to visit and register ahead of the show’s opening on 24th April.
1. A Showcase of Innovation
With over 170 products at National Convenience Show stamped with the ‘Innovation’ seal of approval, the show is set to be a hotbed of new and exciting product launches. Highlights include +ProteinWaterCo (Stand EE310), whose range of premium quality beauty and sports recovery drinks include flavours such as Lemon & Lime Protein Fusion, Mixed Berry Protein Fusion and Lotus Flower & Jasmine Collagen Booster. Meanwhile, Snack’in For You (Stand X359) will be showcasing its better-for-you snacking range which includes a plant-based ‘gouda’ cheese flavour. Find out more here.
2. Big Name Exhibitors
With nearly 230 exhibitors expected on the show floor, there’s going to be a fantastic range of products on display. Muller (Stand BB308), Britvic (Stand Y370), Asahi UK (Stand X358), Galbani (CC309), Homefire (Stand V380), Hovis (Stand W280) and Lucky Saint (Stand Y371) are just a handful of the brands preparing to showcase their wares at the show in April. See the full list of exhibitors here.
3. Unrivalled Expertise
A speaker line-up including industry heavyweights such as Peter Batt, Managing Director, Nisa Retail; Ian Taylor, Retail Director, SPAR UK; Mandi Leonard, Welfare Director, GroceryAid; and John Dunne, Director General of the UK Vaping Industry Assocation will be taking to The Retailer Hub Stage to discuss and engage with many of the complex issues facing the industry today. Q&A sessions at the end of each panel discussion will also allow visitors the opportunity to tap into our speakers’ specialist knowledge with their own burning questions. See the full line up of speakers and seminars here.
4. The Retailer Hub Programme: UK convenience retail: A market landscape
How has convenience retail changed over the last year and what can we expect over the coming months? In this session, insight experts Lumina Intelligence analyse the market trends and competitive landscape of the UK convenience retail market. They ask how the size of the market differs by channel and discuss examples from the industry of retailers and brands capitalising on key trends impacting growth (10:30am - 11:00am, Monday 24th April).
5. The Retailer Hub Programme: Dark Stores: The future for delivery?
The convenience home delivery sector has grown significantly over the past two years, with the pandemic driving shopper habits towards online. To keep up with the growing demand, is the next best step more dark stores? In this session, we speak to leading experts about the future of convenience store delivery and how they see the sector evolving (2:00pm - 2:30pm, Monday 24th April).
6. The Retailer Hub Programme: Critical incident care: How best to support your team
According to the latest ACS Crime Report, the total cost of crime to the sector is £100m and 89% of convenience store colleagues have experienced verbal abuse. As sad as this may be, this is on the increase and retailers need to be prepared. In this session hosted by GroceryAid, we hear first-hand examples of critical incidents experienced within convenience and discuss the key ways of dealing with them and supporting affected staff. (11:15am - 11:45am, Tuesday 25th April).
7. The Retailer Hub Programme: The future of FTG
The food to go market is recovering quicker from the pandemic and, with hybrid working here to stay, local, independent retailers are poised to capitalise on this. However, food to go is no longer all about sandwiches and meal deals. Shoppers want to be inspired and want variety. Get inspiration, as we are joined by leading retailers who are innovating in their food to go ranges (10:30am - 11:00am, Wednesday 26th April).
8. Cutting-Edge Event Technology
For the first time, National Convenience Show will be offering visitors a unique way to experience the show thanks to its partnership with Sitka which will be supplying advanced technology including indoor show navigation, digital show guides and more. All accessible via smartphone, the technology will revolutionise at-show navigation allowing visitors to make the most of their time on the show floor as well as improving networking opportunities.
9. Co-Located Shows
National Convenience Show will run alongside Farm Shop & Deli Show, Food & Drink Expo and Foodex Manufacturing Solutions as part of the UK Food & Drink Shows. The 3-day event is a fantastic opportunity to see what is happening in the industry at-large, with visitors able to take just one day out of the office, kitchen, warehouse or retail site to experience a huge amount of innovation and insight across food development, grocery, manufacturing, specialist retail, wholesale and foodservice at the NEC Birmingham from 24th – 26th April 2023.
10. Don’t take our word for it!
“The friendliness across the show floor, especially amongst the small businesses, has been so inviting. It’s been really nice to be back.”
Luke Mansfield, Chef, Boston Food Services Ltd
“I came to NCS looking for new ideas, trends and solutions for our business. I’m leaving with more than a few! Some really exciting things in there! It’s massively important to come to the show and seek out innovation because without this [the show], we just return to the same thing time and time again.”
James Starsmore, Marketing & Creative Design Manager, Gategroup
The UK Food & Drink Shows are a product of the award-winning team at William Reed.
1 Readers' comment